“Where is Heaven?”

From the message preached at Rock Presbyterian Church in San Diego 5/19/13. The audio can be found here: RPC Sermon Archive

Some people will argue that heaven and the kingdom of God are two different places. But this is to misunderstand what is meant by the terms heaven and the kingdom of God (or, as it is in Matthew, the kingdom of Heaven). Some people think of heaven as the faraway place where God's throne is, and the kingdom of God is what was initiated by Jesus by his life death and resurrection and will be fulfilled at his second coming. Heaven is out there somewhere, and the kingdom of God is here, but here in the future.

But doesn't that deny that God is Immanuel? God is not just Immanuel -- God with us -- in the historical Jesus who walked the earth. God was Immanuel in the Garden of Eden. And God was Immanuel in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and the Temple. God has always wanted to live with us and be our intimate friend. Why would he have placed himself out in outer space somewhere, or in the future?

So when we pray "may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," isn't that the same thing as praying, "make your kingdom and my reality one and the same"? Isn't that the same as praying, "I want you to rule in me as you do in heaven. I want to be in heaven. I want you to make heaven real for me now"? Jesus didn't say "the kingdom of heaven is coming" he said it's here. HERE.

To answer to the questions "Where is heaven?" and "Where is the kingdom of God?" are the same. It is, where God rules; where God's character is manifest. It is where God's character is real. And that is where Jesus is. If we are living the life of Christ, if Christ is living his life through us, we are already in heaven.

Do you feel like you're not in the kingdom of God? Does it feel like heaven is far away? Do you think that the circumstances of your life and the circumstances of the world are such that God couldn't possibly be in the midst of it? You might be right, but it's not because of circumstances or God but because you don't understand either heaven or the kingdom of God.

When we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized into his death, and we rise to new life in the body. The life of Christ is the life of joy. It doesn't have anything to do with outside circumstances. Peter and James rejoiced when they were beaten for proclaiming the gospel. Paul and Silas sang songs when they were beaten and thrown into prison in Philippi for preaching the Good News. Paul wrote to the Philippians from Prison in Rome, "I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content." (Php. 4:11 ESV).

Do you think that we can be God's light on earth, do you think our message is "Good News," if we join with unbelievers in lamenting the sad state of the world? Do you think if you go around complaining and frowning and looking like we were baptized in lemon juice anyone will be interested in the kingdom of God?

When Jesus tells us to pray, "may your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven," he's not telling us to sit around hoping for some brighter future. He's telling is to make the future brighter -- by living the life of love we were baptized into as his disciples, by proclaiming the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. WE are his body. Our work is His work. And his work is ours.